Sweet Potato Pie

This homemade sweet potato pie is super easy to throw together and it can be easily scaled up to create an army of pies. :D

I like to use fresh sweet potatoes instead of canned ones - they give the pie a chunkier texture and they're much less sweet! This way you can also control exactly what goes into the pie. 

You can use any crust you like, too - the sweet potato filling goes well with graham cracker crusts and pastry crusts. This time I cheated and went with store bought crusts - though I think this sweet potato pie would be really good with my bacon fat pie crust. 

• 2 cups mashed sweet potato (see below)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk/soy milk/regular milk
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• pinch of cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• pie crust of choice

I fully own up to cheating on the crust this time. I was having a busy day and didn't do my prep the night before. ;) I was also making two pies, so I double the ingredient list above.

You'll also need to preheat your oven to 325 F.

To prep the sweet potatoes, I find it is easiest to cut them in half, pierce them with a sharp pairing knife in several places, and pop them in the microwave until they're nice and soft. This also retains more of the flavor than boiling them does. Boiling also runs the risk of leaving you with watery mash, which can make a pie that doesn't firm up.

Once they're soft, take the skin off and mash them - don't be too meticulous about mashing, some small chunks are okay and they make the texture of the pie really lovely. :D

Combine your cornstarch, clove, cinnamon, ginger and salt in a small bowl. Mix it together with a fork and then pour it over the sweet potato mash.

Now stir it into the mash - keep going until you can't see any dry bits.

Add the eggs, milk and sugar to the bowl. At this point it's best to switch out the potato masher for a big whisk. :D

Whisk this together for a minute or two, until everything is well combined. If you see any HUGE pieces of sweet potato, feel free to break them up. :)

You'll be baking it at 325 F for 50-60 minutes, depending on how hot your oven runs. Mine is always feeling a little low and slow, so I do an hour. 

You'll know they're done once the crust is nicely browned and the middle of the pie is totally firm. Grab the pie with a couple of pot holders and shake it gently side to side. If it wiggles, put it back in for five minutes. If it doesn't, it's done. 

Cooling your pie is essential to getting nice, clean slices. If you don't care what it looks like, you can start eating immediately after the sweet potatoes stop being food lava. :D 

I waited for about an hour before I dug in, and it was still pretty warm. You can speed up the cooling process by putting the pie pans on a wire rack. 

It's really great all by itself or with vanilla bean ice cream or cool whip. And now I need to go eat another piece, I think.